Turbulent Financial Markets Impact Local Development by Hezi Aris

The tectonic plates that were the underpinning of financial institutions throughout the world have careened into one another, unfolding a house of cards that sit precariously over molten rock. Like the tsunami that hit Indonesia years ago, the calamity was known to have occurred, but it took a few hours to recognize the results caused in the aftermath. So too, the financial calamity that befell every stock exchange across the world, eviscerated balance sheets of banks everywhere, is beginning to make itself felt on the local scene. Times are tougher today than they were six months ago; credit is almost impossible to come by. The physical development by which development projects will impose their imprint of structures are being held ransom by a faltering economy.

The fortresses of Capitalism have withered before our very eyes. As the prospects of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler surviving are discussed, each of us have witnessed the demise or withering status of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Wachovia, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Washington Mutual, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, among others. Those names were stellar throughout the world; today they are tarnished and diminished. The money that used to grease commerce and production have dried up; in some cases due to circumstance, while by greed and manipulation in others. Still, we were far removed from the spectacle unfolding before the eyes of the world. We were simply spectators to each act of the play which continues to this day, and for the foreseeable future. Westchester County could be heard to be impacted by the crisis at hand, but then again, in tones barely audible, uttered as if in denial. Yet hope did not keep the crisis from knocking at our door. Cappelli Enterprises encountered issues of concern in New Rochelle and White Plains.

 As lead developer in the triumvirate development project designated SFC Yonkers Inc. they are awaiting final approval by the Yonkers City Council to proceed. What is not being said in Yonkers or elsewhere is that Cappelli has cross leveraged all his development projects to such an extent, that even if SFC Yonkers Inc had received final approval yesterday, they do not have the means to start the project. Perhaps all they will be able to do is bring a Cianciulli crane to sit in Chicken Island to crow their intentions.

Homes for America, whose Point Street Landing project abuts the Hudson River as part of the Alexander Street Master Development Plan must find additional investors to assume a loan that will come due in the beginning of next year. These are troubling times.

While location, density, and population diversity have brought attention to Yonkers’ potential for development, as the impact of a failing national, state, and local economy are felt, Yonkers must find a forthright approach to governance, an ability to design and define a fiscally sound budget, and to promote economic development projects that are mesmerizing to the eye and equally robust in earning a return to fund Yonkers into the future. The past approach that denied and dismissed public input and concern must be washed out of our collective demeanor. Developers and City Hall must approach residents before the public. Such an approach demands television, radio, Internet, and print media participation to get information out in a timely fashion. Projects must logically be concluded within a set period of time, perhaps one-year or a maximum of 18 months.

Lest anyone forget or be deflected from the real  world, services such as police, fire, and DPW must be funded. The corruption in all departments, including the Yonkers Public Schools must be addressed; it can be done if the public demands it.

The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency must share its contacts to find the venture capitalists and the underwriters who can assist in seeing these projects through.

And both Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone and Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick must be honest with the residents, instead of believing they have hoodwinked the city by their omission of facts and circumstances.

Yonkers needs to know that SFC Yonkers Inc. will likely not start building for a few years out. The Community Development Agency must admit that they have stalled projects and have delayed progress to this point. When will we be told – threes years from now? When will City Hall, with the collusion of Lesnick stop subordinating every aspect of governance to SFC Yonkers Inc.?

When will government turn the corner to bring governance in Yonkers to a plateau of functionality?

Comments

unfortunately the people of this city don't
understand what is going on in the economy
they could have fast tracked the SFC Project
so they were committed .....but they chose
to fiddle while rome burned..now we are faced with a deflationary economy...does
anyone understand the ramifications of this
it means that ANY ASSET..declines in value
stock., bonds. houses, commercial real
estate etc...that may put the project
in jeopardy..and if yonkers doesnt
wind up with the development because
the lesnicks of this world don't understand
economics they get exactly what they deserve

6:09 if SFC doesn't happen, it will be because it never made economical sence. It might save tax payers Millions by avoiding this debocle!

can someone call Obama and ask him to relocate FEMA to Yonkers and declare this city a disaster area. I would never believe, but in Yonkers Ny, you have to, that so many inept moves made by so many inept people could actually be made to actually place Yonkers in a "too little too late" scenerio. 1 year ago and there are cranes in the air, and construction is underway. Yonkers, in its infinite wisdom, waits, waits, waits, panders, waits, postures, waits, play politics, waits and all the while this HAZMAT of a city rots like corps. Its bad when you see Harlem, & the south Bronx rebuilding itself before Yonkers.

Why am I here?

So, Hezi- you lead the charge and rally the troops in tin-foil hats to dick this project around for YEARS, and now- NOW you have the unmitigated gall to call shenanigans on the whole thing because the economy is tanking?

Well, maybe if YOU and the rest of the naysayers hadn't jacked this around for so long, it would have been BUILT already.

If this project doesn't come off, you'll only have to look in the nearest mirror to figure out who's responsible.

This fool who posted 8:10PM actually thinks that this project, if approved earlier, would be up and running by now. Thank heaven it did not start last yr. we would have giant holes all over downtown. What a mess we would be in. No money and a languishing project.

I hear that Liam McLaughlin is entertaining ideas of running against Bernice Spreckman for County Legislator. I'll tell you this. McLaughlin doesn't have the bal-s to run against Spreckman, mark my words. I know this coward. He's afraid that old bat will clean his clock. He might be able to muscle Lesnick to let him lead behind the scenes on the City Council, but he will never run against Spreckman. Liam's a coward at heart. Mark my words Yonkers. He's finished.

Interesting enough his "buddy" Robertson is hell bent on ridding us of the County trash government. So which is it.

Hezi is correct
The reason the redevelopment of downtown has not happened is because of the state of governance in Yonkers.
It is a mess of lies, promises, suggestions and innuendo.

http://coysm.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/cost-to-taxpayers/

Funny that a man who has tried to stall the project for all these years is now crying wolf... Sad day for those who finally see the writing on the wall. Any smart person knew this was coming and thats why this project needed to happen about 2 years ago. Thanks for keeping Yonkers behind the times.

8:50pm is correct. If the SFC project had started, the downtown area would look like upper Warburton Ave. Giant craters all over town. Maybe they could attract tourist by calling it Grand Canyon II. In this economic environment we will be lucky if Ridge Hill is ever completed. Ratner is running into all kinds of money problems with the Brooklyn project.

Amicone only knows two words
"retail" and "residential"
He has NO imagination and
will not listen to anyone
who does. The man is a DUD.

Joan, pay NO attention to these "city haul"
parasites. Just an educated guess, but it
is probably that old witch MAH. Understand
she does not have enough to do wanders the
halls all day listening for gossip.

too important to keep off the front page.
3 years this week since her last arrest. Explain why that arrest was voided and who gave the ok? It is past time for her to go.

"For 1:45 you are right. She's scary. Of course Lorraine will cozy up to someone like Lisa who "matters" in her game of manipulation. True that it's painful to work near her - the tantrums are frightening, the slamming doors, the language. What's really going on with this employee? It's enough already. Do they do random drug testing at city hall? They should. They do at some private sector companies and it protects the employee from rumors and accusations, and it protects everyone else around the person. If the person fails the drug test, there are steps taken. If the person passes it, fine. And there can't be a heads up on the test. It has to be un announced, disrobing type to urinate into a container provided so the person can't smuggle a "clean" urine sample."

The "writing on the wall" is that city hall has not been responsive to the concerns voiced by many people over the course of this administratively cursed process.
Ned Sullivan summed it up rather well in a JN article.
http://lohud.com/article/20081113/OPINION/811130404/-1/SPORTS

Ned Sullivan has been pontificating for years ..and given his track record of
stalling proposed development projects
on the zoning board it is no wonder that
he now thinks that the 1500 speakers
(all who did not oppose the project)out
of 200,000 know better than the building
department and the professional site planners and engineers who put the SFC
project together..Yonkers is at a tipping
point..the city is run down and ready
to die...the people who pay taxes will
in the absence of an expanded tax base
have to bare the burden of increasing taxes
and diminishing services..the mayor, the council, both parties, and most enlightened
residents understand this...they understand
that in order for a developer to invest
a billion dollars..ie risk a billion
dollars whether of their own money
or from banks they have to see a profit
at the end of the day....no developer would
dare start such a project especially ones
like SFC who are sophisticated and knowledgable in large developments would
again dare risk that kind of money
if they were not absolutely convinced
that the project would be successful..the
idea that you limit the height of buildings
overlooking the hudson flies in the face
of what every city which has a water view
doesn..whether miami, new york cities trump
row from 79th to 42 nd street, etc knows
that people buy for ocean and river views
that apartments sell because of WHERE THEY
ARE...if yonkers listens to the Sullivans
of the world Nodine Hill will be garbage
along with the rest of downtown yonkers
for the next 200 years

Over spending, OverTime, Taxbreaks, Out right fraud in property taxes for friends and family, bloated staff, IDA giveaways, cheap city land deals, the list goes on and on. Plus irresponsible fiscal policy, that's what has and will hurt Yonkers.

When will we actually see an expanded tax base from SFC. Not one Amicone troll has been able to say. Probably never.

That's why we are in the mess we are in and it looks like Amicone just like the county cracker SpaNO has no clue of what is really happening.

name calling is not helpful..there is not
one ounce of thought in your post...sorry
but its time for thinking people to make the decisions not knee jerk political
opponents from the left or the right

[EXPANDING TAXBASE]

JUST LIKE CITY HAUL, NOT ONE OUCE OF THOUGHT. INTERESTING HOW THOSE ON THE INSIDE THINK THEY ARE THE ONES WITH ALL OF THE ANSWERS. THEY ARE CLUELESS, BECAUSE IF OTHERWISE THEY WOULD HAVE CONTROLLED SPENDING FOR MANY YEARS NOW.

AS FOR DEVELOPMENT NOT ONE INSTANCE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO PROVE THE REVENUE IT HAS BROUGHT IN, NOT ONE. BECAUSE THERE ARE NONE.

If government is suppose to govern, why has it immersed itself in development and economic development?

How much better off would Yonkers taxpayers be if those in City Hall -- the 2nd and 4th floors -- focused on making doing business in the city easier and not full of obstacles?

If SFC was approved in a timely manner without the hearings and committee meetings and rallies and constant complainers, we'd be complaining about how the construction workers are clogging up the parking lots around the downtown and over-crowding the lunch-time eateries.

Imagine if our biggest complain in this global economic meltdown was where one could park during the weekday downtown?

But the politicos wanted "credit" and dragged their feet and ran up consultant bills and made Yonkers anit-business to SFC (and anyone else thinking about doing business here).

We should be dreaming about construction congestion.

Instead, we're having nightmares about unemployment and continued blight.

expanded tax base from SFC?
oh we have one all right
but it happens to be the taxpayer footing the bill.
http://coysm.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/93/

So....when exactly did Mr. Capelli say he was leaving for Monticello?
After holding this city hostage for years without the ability for anyone to move forward: a dinner party upon his departure would be most appropriate.

Don't blame SFC blame the clown...He is the naked king!!

You are correct: don't blame SFC

Brand new school tax exemptions post for 2007
Thank you YonkersAwake

http://coysm.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/2007-school-tax-exemptions/

From a previous post concerning a Bernice Spreckman quote: "That little punk Liam...and his buddy Gordon." Is that Gordon Burrows, the County Legislator?

Burrows is going to face an uphill battle next year, just you watch. It's time to send him to the retirement home.